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The Words (2012)

The Words (2012)

TOMATOMETER

Critics Consensus:
Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.

Critics Consensus:
Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.

AUDIENCE SCORE

Critic Consensus:
Neither as clever nor as interesting as it appears to think it is, The Words maroons its talented stars in an overly complex, dramatically inert literary thriller that's ultimately a poor substitute for a good book.

The Words Photos

Movie Info

Starring Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde and Zoë Saldana, the layered romantic drama The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words. -- (C) CBS Films

Critic Reviews for The Words

The story-within-a-story-within-a-story is so slight and inconsequential, like the tiniest of a set of Russian nesting dolls, that we may be forgiven for letting our minds wander toward bedtime and tomorrow's errands.

Audience Reviews for The Words

There is virtually nothing that works in this convoluted, nonsensical and terribly-written drama in which not even the visuals escape the artificial and clichéd, and so everything is a complete failure, from the expository narration to the ridiculous story-within-a-story-within-a-story structure.

Carlos Magalhães

Super Reviewer

The ability to write should be first among the qualifications required to write a movie about a writer... but all through this film, all I could think was, "No one involved with this film has ever written anything!" And the attempt to lean on narration - it's like the book you're reading! - falls completely flat, as it's never quite clear who is supposed to be narrating, or (of course) who would read a book were it this badly written. I'd recommend You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger well before this one, which has a similar plot but comes from Woody Allen, who may have written a thing or two before the present movie.
I really like the premise, and the talented cast does its best with this disastrous script, but unfortunately The Words is much more about the idea of being a writer than it is a believable story of anything a writer might think/want/do.

Daniel Perry

Super Reviewer

People didn't like this much. Why?..because of the story, inside of a story, and partly inside another story? or because of the ending that left you wondering what was really true? I found this movie mesmerizing. There isn't one bad actor in this, that is for sure. The story was heartbreaking, and intriguing. It was beautifully done, and left me with a feeling of awe. Usually, endings like this one make me really mad. For some reason, this ending seemed to fit the movie...

Cynthia S.

Super Reviewer

The Words story within a story within a story structure takes away any dramatic impact the film might have had. The performances are actually pretty good, especially Jeremy Irons and Bradley Cooper, but the script tries to be more complex and interesting than it needs to be. The story holds your attention from the beginning, but the more things are revealed the less interesting the story becomes by the end of it. Olivia Wilde's character could have been cut entirely because it is just a poor character with no motivations at all. The Words has some interesting points to make, including living with the choices we make and how no one can help you live with those choices except yourself, where writers draw the line between fiction and real life, and how hard it is to get a book published in these harsh economic times. All these interesting points are drowned out by a poor ending, though. The script just tries a little too hard to cram too many plot elements into an otherwise very interesting, engaging, and well acted story for the first 3/4 of the film. I'm torn because The Words really kept me engaged and wondering what was going to happen next, like any good thriller can, but botches it trying to get to the end. I can't quite recommend it, but it is certainly an interesting misfire.